Madonna’s now being brought to you by a concert promoter that makes most of its money by getting bums in seats. Every time a Madonna song is copied, it increases the market for her concerts. Talk about a 21st Century business model.

2. Many listeners, from big-name-fans on down, are interested in being part of a community, as shown by the success of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, rather than getting mainstreamed by the music industry. (No, Trent T. Rez didn’t do it first). Thom Yorke says:

[traditional release means] does us no good, because we don’t cross over [to other fan bases].

Byrne: So this bypasses [the middlemen] and goes straight to the fans.
Yorke: In a way, yeah. And it was a thrill. We mastered it, and two days later it was on the site being, you know, preordered. That was just a really exciting few weeks to have that direct connection.

Byrne: … What is music, what does music do for people? What do people get from it? What’s it for? That’s the thing that’s being exchanged. Not all the other stuff. The other stuff is the shopping cart that holds some of it.
Yorke: It’s a delivery service.
Byrne: But people will still pay to have that experience. [link added to Online Fandom] You create a community with music, not just at concerts but by talking about it with your friends. By making a copy and handing it to your friends, you’ve established a relationship. The implication is that they’re now obligated to give you something back.

3. Often the music industry hinders artists, rather than serving as an effective distribution stream. Think about how when artists made it big in TV and movies in the past, they were signed to a label — these days, MySpace is where its at. David Byrne suggests several possible models (see above), preferably structured around retaining copyright in songs, rather than the present quasi work-for-hire model:

Mega pop artists will still need that mighty push and marketing effort for a new release that only traditional record companies can provide. For others, what we now call a record label could be replaced by a small company that funnels income and invoices from the various entities and keeps the accounts in order. A consortium of midlevel artists could make this model work. …

I would personally advise artists to hold on to their publishing rights (well, as much of them as they can). Publishing royalties are how you get paid if someone covers, samples, or licenses your song for a movie or commercial. This, for a songwriter, is your pension plan. (emphasis added).

4. Do I need to remind you that according to the music industry, all of your mixtapes and even your Itunes playlist is illegal? Treating all of your consumers like crooks is not a good strategic plan. As shown by Radiohead and ITunes DRM-free music and (perhaps not as effectively by T.T.R. and Saul Williams), listeners/fans are willing to pay — they mostly want more ways of using what they have purchased. As K says,

At the end of the day, though, it’s the media companies that will need to readjust their thinking about the industry in order for these initiatives to have a life of their own.

established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms. We believe that fanworks are transformative and that transformative works are legitimate.

As shown by the first Board of Directors including such heavy-hitters as Naomi Novik, Rebecca Tushnet, and Francesca Coppa, OTW is aware of the gender issues involved in fandom and “The OTW represents a practice of transformative fanwork historically rooted in a primarily female culture.” Yet interestingly enough, Henry Jenkins, “Sir Convergence Culture” is the only person interviewed for the Chronicle‘s story for the importance of this organization:

“…a series of conflicts this year which raised awareness within the fan community of the need to take action to protect the integrity of their own traditions and to maintain control over their own cultural practices,” said Mr. Jenkins today. “Fans are pooling their knowledge and skills to push their community to the next level.”

This sounds like a very exciting and needed new organization! To get involved, volunteer here. And to read a critique of OTW’s view of transformative works, look here.

Like this:

Unfortunately, I can’t make it to every great conference held at MIT by the cutting-edge Comparative Media Studies program (run by the godfather of fan studies, Henry Jenkins, “Sir Convergence Culture”). Hopefully, we’ll be presenting at Media in Transition 6 because participating in Media in Transition 5 was so great!

Catherine Tosenberger (dissertation on Harry Potter fanfic!) gives a excellent brief history of fandom and the struggles about controlling fanworks starting at about minute 13. This is a great opportunity to be introduced the overall economic issues involved in fandom. And the next speaker talks about how what really motivates fans is about being part of the fandom.

We are going to be writing/presenting more about the relationship between economics and fandom in the future, so it’s great to know that others are also concerned about this area.

“Love the culture? Write a song about it. Then, use it to sell a handbag. “

Susan Scafidi’s summary of Gwen Stefani’s post-No Doubt career at Counterfeit Chic is incisive precisely because the lack of originality shown. Gwen’s co-optation (or misappropriation) of Japanese style, specifically the street styles of the Harajuku district of Tokyo, may be a specific example of the use of another culture’s cues and objects to make money for one’s self but not the originating culture. In music, many have come before — from Elvis to Madonna.

Turn you and your friends into Gwen and her Harajuku Girls. Customize their eye and hair color, even their stage wardrobe, before printing out the dolls and bringing them to life. You can even print out your own paper dolls to decorate your room or greeting cards featuring your Harajuku creation. (emphasis added — and it is interesting to note thatthe skin color can be changed, but not the features)

What? There are already living Harajuku girls and boys (as in fromHarajuku & in the style)! This subculture is based on a high degree of gothy weirdness combined with the Japanese penchant for cuteness (called kawaii). Now you can now pretend to be someone (via a paper doll) who is a stand-in for someone (Gwen or her version of Harajuku girls) who is pretending to be/an homage to/stealing the cultural capital (choose one!) of actual people! Fun!

These paper dolls are part of a system where the original creators (those in Harajuku) receive no intellectual property in their culture (and the $$$ that flows from it), yet Gwen can.

Gwen has appropriated the Harajuku look — re-naming her backup dancers as a group as the Harajuku Girls & she has a fashion label called Harajuku Lovers (and a tour named after the label). There are live trademarks in the United States for Harajuku Lovers & Harajuku Lovers A Fatal Attraction to Cuteness. Yet I’m sure that when Stefani used a sample of “The Lonely Goatherd” from the musical The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein for her song “Wind it Up,” contracts were signed and money was exchanged. And Gwen will defend her trademarks based on Harajuku-style — as shown in a recent Forever 21 lawsuit.

But those trademarks — and the rest of her “cutting-edge” image are built on the cultural production of others — the actual Harajuku girls — and boys — who use their amazing skills to create bizarre/cute outfits.

Gwen Stefani wants you to know that she just oozes creativity from every pore. “People think you can turn creativity on and off, but it’s not like that,” the singer-cum-designer declares while sashaying through a cloud of fluttering photographs. “It just kind of comes out, a mashup of all these things you collect in your mind.”

Creativity? When Bjork, for example, says she likes to collect the sounds of nature, she then does new and unique things with them — she doesn’t call it Wind through Pines ™ and slap her name on it. Mashups, fanfic, and other examples of remix culture do something new, they don’t attempt to serve as a replacement for the original, and they also have clear norms of attribution — something sorely lacking from Gwen’s appropriative behavior. I’m not sure what is “creative” about taking ownership through intellectual property laws of cultural productivity by others. After all, she’s not the first to do that either.

For more about Harajuku (and Japanese street) style, I recommend (list as of 11/08):